Brooks Koepka goes on rant after being shunned a press conference

Koepka not surprised by the lack of attention the media pays to him ahead of Tour Championship.

Thu, 20 Sep 2018

Brooks Koepka is using being shunned a press conference at this week's Tour Championship - where he has the opportunity of moving to World No.1 and winning the FedEx Cup - as motivation to cap his season in style.

Tiger Woods, Justin Rose, Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau and Keegan Bradley were all on the pre-tournament interview schedule Tuesday and Wednesday in advance of this week’s Tour Championship, most for good reason.

The lack of media attention comes as little surprise to the three-time major winner, who picked up two of the four majors this season at the US Open and US PGA. Yet while the four-time PGA Tour winner says he doesn't care, his latest rant would suggest differently...

“We don’t get asked to do many interviews, so I’m not gonna go out of my way to do one,” said Koepka, the world number two. “I don’t really care.

“You’ve got guys who will kiss up, and I’m not gonna kiss up. I don’t need to kiss anyone’s butt. I’m here to play golf. I’m not here to do anything else.

"A lot of guys are known for the stuff they do off the golf course and who they like to hang around. It’s pretty obvious who’s doing that and who isn’t.

"I don’t need to bend over backwards to be friends with anyone [in the media], but certain guys do that because they want their names written. I’d rather be written about because of my play.

“Sometimes it does suck, but I’ve started to care less. Come Sunday, I won’t forget it when everyone wants to talk to me because I just won. I don’t forget things.”

Koepka can jump to World No.1 for the first time in his career if results go his way this week, and he can even win the FedEx Cup for the first time in his career as he looks on from seventh place.

Even Koepka's swing coach Claude Harmon is in agreement at the lack of coverage his man gets in the press.

“Are you surprised [of his reaction]?” said Harmon, with a tinge of bemusement.

“You can say he and DJ [Dustin Johnson, also coached by Harmon] don’t talk that much, but we continue to find it surprising. We’ll make jokes about it. [Brooks is] the most under-the-radar three-time major winner of all time.”